The other day I came home to a package that had a big bottle of KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade in it—-courtesy of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.

I immediately thought of whipping up a batch of Buffalo Wings….because who doesn’t love a good Buffalo Wing? But at second thought, I decided to try something different and take a spin off of another great pub food—Fried Calamari!

I attempted to mimic the Buffalo Wing taste by marinating the calamari in buttermilk and KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade. After a quick toss in flour and a few minutes of deep frying, I had a plate full of crispy–yet tender, Fried Calamari.

I’m not sure I fully tasted the flavors of the marinade in the Calamari by itself. But after a little squeeze of lemon and quick dunk into the Buffalo Marinade, the flavors were definitely more prominent.

But let’s be honest, anything fried and then dipped in hot sauce is pretty delicious in my book 🙂

Happy Friday, Friends!

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Fried “Buffalo” Calamari
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Pound Calamari, cleaned and cut into 1 inch rings—tentacles left whole
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
¾ Cup KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade, or other hot sauce marinade
¼ Cup Buttermilk
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt, plus more to season after the calamari is fried
½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil, for deep frying
Serve with Celery and Carrot Sticks, additional KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade, Blue Cheese Dressing, and Lemon Wedges

In a large bowl, mix the marinade and buttermilk together. Add the cleaned calamari—ensuring it’s well covered in the liquid. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

Place a large colander in the sink and pour the calamari with buttermilk mixture into it. Gently shake the colander to drain off the marinade. Use paper towels to blot off excess liquids.

In a large pot (or deep fryer), preheat oil to 375 degrees.

In a large zip lock bag, add the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the calamari zip the bag closed. Shake well to evenly coat the calamari. Pour the contents of the bag into a large sifter (or you can do this in batches) and sift the calamari to get rid of any extra flour. In batches, carefully add the calamari into the hot oil and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.

Transfer the fried calamari to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with additional salt. Repeat until all the calamari has been fried.

Serve immediately with celery and carrot sticks, additional KC Masterpiece® Buffalo Marinade, Blue Cheese Dressing, and lemon wedges